Padfield's 'short but gruelling' Coal Race returns on Sunday

Padfield's community website calls the village’s big annual sporting event as ‘A short but gruelling challenge’.

It isn’t.  

The Padfield Coal Race is brutal. 

Its hardy competitors must sprint 140 metres up the 18% incline of Redgate while – as the name suggests – carrying a hulking sack of coal. 

Men are lumbered with a 20kg bag, women 10kg, while under-18s have it somewhat easier by only having to grasp a single lump of black gold. 

"I'm just aiming to finish and avoid getting the wooden spoon,” says Padfield councillor, Ollie Cross, who will be taking part in this year’s event. “There was a lad last year who pulled his hamstring a few metres in, and we were all wincing for him.” 

Legend has it that the Coal Race began in the 1950s as part of a rivalry between two local, and no doubt ultra-competitive, coal merchants. The villagers enjoyed the face-off so much that it soon became a yearly highlight of the Padfield calendar, coinciding with the Plum Fair, which ran until 2013. 

2023's race attracted around 30 competitors, and although there are three athletes per heat, they are all running against the clock. 

“I did it in just under two minutes last year,” says Ollie. “But there are people who can go under 40 or 50 seconds. There was one lady in my heat in 2019 who was like Speedy Gonzales.” 

That could have been Lottie Lancaster, who set a women’s record of 30.16 seconds.  

Georgia Teakle-Knock was the fastest female last time out in 42.21 seconds, while James Fishlock won in a rapid 31.86 seconds, three seconds ahead of runner-up Jacob Gardner. Even that was three seconds off the pace set by Dan Brockington in 2008, whose 28.5 seconds sprint is still the record. 

“I’m always more confident in the days before the race, but that confidence goes once that sack of coal goes on your shoulder. We all head to The Peels afterwards, and you feel like you’ve really earned a pint.” 

The 2024 Padfield Coal Race takes place on Sunday September 8. It costs £5 for adults and £3 for under-18s to enter. Registration opens at 11:45am with the heats beginning at 12:30pm.